With its original livery reflecting the style of the late ’80s, the 1987 Kawasaki KLR650 looked like a big dirt bike but was also good on the street and on long-distance tours. (Photo courtesy Kawasaki)
Here we are, at the beginning of a new year and the end of an era. After a 32-year run (1987-2018), Kawasaki has ceased production of the KLR650. After tens of thousands of units sold and millions of miles ridden around the globe, the legendary dual-sport has been retired. A victim of ever-tightening emissions regulations, the KLR and its lone carburetor are being put out to pasture.
In its early days Kawasaki billed the KLR not as a dual-sport but as a “triple-sport,” a motorcycle good for street, dirt and touring. That aligned perfectly with Rider?s focus on touring, travel and adventure, and since the KLR has always been reasonably priced, even more so when purchased used, it also fit within the limited budgets of staffers and contributors. Editor-in-Chief Mark Tuttle, Managing Editor Jenny Smith and Senior Editor Yours Truly have owned, and loved, KLRs. And long-time dual-sport contributor Arden Kysely owned not one but two KLRs, racking up more than 65,000 miles. Brochure for the 1987 Kawasaki KLR650.
In the October 2013 issue of Rider, Clement Salvadori wrote his Retrospective column about the 1993-1996 Kawasaki KLX650, a more powerful, more off-road-oriented spin-off of the KLR, and he summed up the icon?s early history:
“On the conservative en...